Industry & government need to work together to resolve call drop issue: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that resolving the issue of call drops is top priority, and that while the government is willing to take 10 steps towards the telecom industry, the latter must walk 20 steps forward.

Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that resolving the issue of call drops is top priority, and that while the government is willing to take 10 steps towards the telecom industry, the latter must walk 20 steps forward. In an interview with ET’s Anandita Singh Mankotia and Romit Guha, Prasad outlines his ministry’s focus areas, including revival of BSNL and MTNL, implementation of Bharat Net, introduction of new technologies, BPOs in rural areas, and implementation of postal payments bank. Edited excerpts:

What is your priority now?

Resolving call drops. I have said to operators, please upgrade your network, if it needs investment then invest. I am happy that data services are rising, but let us not ignore quality of voice networks. Users can’t suffer. The operators must not destroy the image they have created with their hard work. They are credited with bringing the mobile revolution into this country but a good consumer service is critical for their own success. I am happy they have started to improve their networks, but a lot more needs to be done.

The industry and the government need to work together. I am willing to do whatever is required but they must do their job. I am willing to walk ten steps, they must walk 20.

BSNL has reported operating profit for the first time in many years. When will it fully revive?

BSNL was in a profit of Rs 10,000 crore when the Vajpayee government left office. When BJP returned, it was in a loss of over Rs 8,000 crore. For more than seven years, BSNL was not allowed to function. Today, I am very happy that they have an operating profit ofRs 672 crore and their revenue has increased by 4.16%, the highest in the last five years. This is a modest beginning, but in the next two to three years I expect it to turn around.

What about MTNL?

MTNL is also improving, they are strengthening their networks, undertaking other business activities. Soon, in a year, there should be some improvement there too. My priority here was to first put the department of telecom (Sanchar Bhawan) and the PSUs in order. Sanchar Bhawan had become infamous in the past but now you will see a different sense of optimism and confidence in the officials. This place is now free of lobbyists and middlemen. My officers have a sense of faith that they can work in peace without any interference from anywhere and purely in the interest of the nation.

Almost all regulatory issues have been resolved. What are your next priorities?

Yes, most issues are resolved and we are now waiting for the regulator to give its recommendation on spectrum caps. Most goals I had set for myself in the first year are accomplished or moving towards fulfilment but, a lot more needs to be done. Fruition of new mobile technologies is important for Digital India to succeed. In electronic manufacturing, we were at only Rs 11,000 crore last year; today the value of proposals has crossedRs 1.14 lakh crore. Foxconn has come to India and employed over 4,000 people. Talking of the future, postal payment bank, Bharat Net and success of BPOs in rural areas are important.

Last, but not the least, is optical fibre network—18 chief ministers have come forward saying they want to be a part of the special purpose vehicle.

How is the postal department gearing up for becoming a payments bank?

For payments bank, the postal department is getting a lot of suitors. A total of 23 institutions, including the World Bank, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and ICICI, have expressed interest. The postal department has 1.25 lakh post offices, obviously a very attractive network. We will supplement the postal bank network with common service centres (CSCs).

For digital inclusion, CSCs will play a critical role. We currently have 1.40 lakh CSCs and we plan to scale this up to 2 lakh in the coming year, and will also ask the postal department to work with them to convert all the 1.25 lakh post offices to CSCs. They will do emarketing, e-insurance, e-service, e-ticketing and computer literacy. In one year, the number of CSCs will go up to 3.25 lakh.

What was the response to the proposal of setting up BPOs in rural areas?

Overwhelming. We had invited expression of interest for 48,000 seats, distributed among all states as per the census, excluding the digitally-rich areas of Chennai, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Noida, etc. Against 48,000 seats, we have received expression of interest for 1.25 lakh seats at 190 location across the country. Leading companies such as TCS, Snapdeal, Paytm and Data Infosys have expressed a strong interest.